It has been a while since we updated our blog and accordingly we have traveled quite far. We decided to give you a brief overview of the places we visited but not to go in full details.

Vancouver was built, as many other cities, next a river. While strolling along the river we saw a market we would like to visit on the other bank. There were bridges but we would have had to walk hours to get there. Luckily some smart guys launched the Aquabus, small roundish boats working as busses on the river. It is quite expensive but as there are not so many possibilities and the boats look really cute, we took and enjoyed it.

Since Seattle is next to Spokane, Tina gave us some recommendations. One highly recommended thing was to go watch the flying fishes at Pike Place Market. Somehow we misunderstood her suggestion and thought that those flying fishes are real living ones. To be sure to really see those fishes we stood up quite early and drove to the pier…. And starred out into the water, waiting to see the flying fishes. After not seeing some, we decided, we just did not have enough luck and went to eat breakfast. Well, it took us about a week to figure out that the flying fish at Pike Place are the ones thrown around by the fish vendors.

Two lively kids, a teenager, their parents, two active dogs, and one lazy cat were our hosts in Spokane.  Tina, Michael’s relative, and her family gave us a very warm welcome and enabled us an awesome family stay in Spokane. A clear highlight was the hockey game. The Spokane Chiefs compete in the WHL, a junior hockey league. Despite that fact that they “only” play WHL they have a fully fletched stadium, a mascot and tons of fans. We had great seats, an exciting game and even won some tacos! Tina and Denny – thanks again for the nice stay.

Oregon was so far the biggest surprise. We have never heard anything about Oregon before, so its beauty, diversity and friendly people took us really by surprise. Portland was our first stop, after having heard that they have tons of food trucks. We loved the big choice on a small spot and ended up with some Hawaiian food.

Michi detected the Crater Lake National Park on our super map and we did not regret a second going there. Luckily we experienced the warmest October in years so that there was no snow and we could do the whole round. The lake is the deepest in the US and so unbelievable blue and flat that the surrounding is reflected perfectly.  Since the lake is on a mountain, well it is a crater lake after all, and quite big we explored it by auto touring (correct term for car hiking ;).

After all those auto touring, we wanted to go on a little hike in the Redwood Forest. Actually no big deal, as there are maps, the hikes are normally signposted and we have both hiking experience. We selected a small 2mile hike and started off. Blown away by the huge trees, we walked and followed the signs until we noticed that we are lost….somehow we were that blown away that we missed some signs, ended up at a total different place and did a 10mile walk. Luckily we made it out of the woods 10 minutes before sunset and could be sure to sleep well that night.

At one breakfast on the Queen Mary we met John and Janet. An amazing couple, both 70+, traveled the world and are still fit as fiddles. They offered us to show San Francisco and we took the chance. Fortunately they still had a spot left in their busy schedule and drove us around. It was a very funny drive and both of them are a real inspiration. Hopefully we are as fit and happy when reaching their age!